To The Word – Day 27

₁Sin offerings are required in the following cases.

If someone is officially summoned to give evidence in court and does not give information about something he has seen or heard, he must suffer the consequences.

₂If someone unintentionally touches anything ritually unclean, such as a dead animal, he is unclean and guilty as soon as he realizes what he has done.

₃If someone unintentionally touches anything of human origin that is unclean, whatever it may be, he is guilty as soon as he realizes what he has done.

₄If someone makes a careless vow, no matter what it is about, he is guilty as soon as he realizes what he has done.

₅When a person is guilty, he must confess the sin, ₆and as the penalty for his sin he must bring to the LORD a female sheep or goat as an offering. The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man's sin.

₇If a man cannot afford a sheep or a goat, he shall bring to the LORD as the payment for his sin two doves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ₈He shall bring them to the priest, who will first offer the bird for the sin offering. He will break its neck without pulling off its head ₉and sprinkle some of its blood against the side of the altar. The rest of the blood will be drained out at the base of the altar. This is an offering to take away sin. ₁₀Then he shall offer the second bird as a burnt offering, according to the regulations. In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man's sin, and he will be forgiven.

₁₁If a man cannot afford two doves or two pigeons, he shall bring one kilogramme of flour as a sin offering. He shall not put any olive oil or any incense on it, because it is a sin offering, not a grain offering. ₁₂He shall bring it to the priest, who will take a handful of it as a token that it has all been offered to the LORD, and he will burn it on the altar as a food offering. It is an offering to take away sin. ₁₃In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man's sin, and he will be forgiven. The rest of the flour belongs to the priest, just as in the case of a grain offering.

₁₄The LORD gave the following regulations to Moses. ₁₅If anyone sins unintentionally by failing to hand over the payments that are sacred to the LORD, he shall bring as his repayment offering to the LORD a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. ₁₆He must make the payments he has failed to hand over and must pay an additional twenty per cent. He shall give it to the priest, and the priest shall offer the animal as a sacrifice for the man's sin, and he will be forgiven.

₁₇If anyone sins unintentionally by breaking any of the LORD's commands, he is guilty and must pay the penalty. ₁₈He must bring to the priest as a repayment offering a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the sin which the man committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. ₁₉It is a repayment offering for the sin he committed against the LORD.

₁The LORD gave the following regulations to Moses. ₂An offering is to be made if anyone sins against the LORD by refusing to return what a fellow-Israelite has left as a deposit or by stealing something from him or by cheating him ₃or by lying about something that has been lost and swearing that he did not find it. _4-5When a man sins in any of these ways, he must repay whatever he got by dishonest means. On the day he is found guilty, he must repay the owner in full, plus an additional twenty per cent. ₆He shall bring to the priest as his repayment offering to the LORD a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. ₇The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man's sin, and he will be forgiven.

₈The LORD commanded Moses ₉to give Aaron and his sons the following regulations for burnt offerings. A burnt offering is to be left on the altar all night long, and the fire is to be kept burning. ₁₀Then the priest, wearing his linen robe and linen shorts, shall remove the greasy ashes left on the altar and put them at the side of the altar. ₁₁Then he shall change his clothes and take the ashes outside the camp to a ritually clean place. ₁₂The fire on the altar must be kept burning and never allowed to go out. Every morning the priest shall put firewood on it, arrange the burnt offering on it, and burn the fat of the fellowship offering. ₁₃The fire must always be kept burning on the altar and never allowed to go out.

₁₄The following are the regulations for grain offerings. An Aaronite priest shall present the grain offering to the LORD in front of the altar. ₁₅Then he shall take a handful of the flour and oil, and the incense on it, and burn it on the altar as a token that all of it has been offered to the LORD. The smell of this offering is pleasing to the LORD. _16-17The priests shall eat the rest of it. It shall be made into bread baked without yeast and eaten in a holy place, the courtyard of the Tent of the LORD's presence. The LORD has given it to the priests as their part of the food offerings. It is very holy, like the sin offerings and the repayment offerings. ₁₈For all time to come any of the male descendants of Aaron may eat it as their continuing share of the food offered to the LORD. Anyone else who touches a food offering will be harmed by the power of its holiness.

₁₉The LORD gave Moses the following regulations ₂₀for the ordination of an Aaronite priest. On the day he is ordained, he shall present as an offering to the LORD one kilogramme of flour (the same amount as the daily grain offering), half in the morning and half in the evening. ₂₁It is to be mixed with oil and cooked on a griddle and then crumbled and presented as a grain offering, a smell pleasing to the LORD. ₂₂For all time to come this offering is to be made by every descendant of Aaron who is serving as High Priest. It shall be completely burnt as a sacrifice to the LORD. ₂₃No part of a grain offering that a priest makes may be eaten; all of it must be burnt.

₂₄The LORD commanded Moses ₂₅to give Aaron and his sons the following regulations for sin offerings. The animal for a sin offering shall be killed on the north side of the altar, where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. This is a very holy offering. ₂₆The priest who sacrifices the animal shall eat it in a holy place, the courtyard of the Tent of the LORD's presence. ₂₇Anyone or anything that touches the flesh of the animal will be harmed by the power of its holiness. If any article of clothing is spattered with the animal's blood, it must be washed in a holy place. ₂₈Any clay pot in which the meat is boiled must be broken, and if a metal pot is used, it must be scrubbed and rinsed with water. ₂₉Any male of the priestly families may eat this offering; it is very holy. ₃₀But if any of the blood is brought into the Tent and used in the ritual to take away sin, the animal must not be eaten; it must be burnt.

₁The following are the regulations for repayment offerings, which are very holy. ₂The animal for this offering is to be killed on the north side of the altar, where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed, and its blood is to be thrown against all four sides of the altar. ₃All its fat shall be removed and offered on the altar: the fat tail, the fat covering the internal organs, ₄the kidneys and the fat on them, and the best part of the liver. ₅The priest shall burn all the fat on the altar as a food offering to the LORD. It is a repayment offering. ₆Any male of the priestly families may eat it, but it must be eaten in a holy place, because it is very holy.

₇There is one regulation that applies to both the sin offering and the repayment offering: the meat belongs to the priest who offers the sacrifice. ₈The skin of an animal offered as a burnt offering belongs to the priest who offers the sacrifice. ₉Every grain offering that has been baked in an oven or prepared in a pan or on a griddle belongs to the priest who has offered it to God. ₁₀But all uncooked grain offerings, whether mixed with oil or dry, belong to all the Aaronite priests and must be shared equally among them.

₁₁The following are the regulations for the fellowship offerings presented to the LORD. ₁₂If a man makes this offering as a thank-offering to God, he shall present, together with the animal to be sacrificed, an offering of bread made without yeast: either thick loaves made of flour mixed with olive oil or biscuits brushed with olive oil or cakes made of flour mixed with olive oil. ₁₃In addition, he shall offer loaves of bread baked with yeast. ₁₄He shall present one part of each kind of bread as a special contribution to the LORD; it belongs to the priest who takes the blood of the animal and throws it against the altar. ₁₅The flesh of the animal must be eaten on the day it is sacrificed; none of it may be left until the next morning.

₁₆If a man brings a fellowship offering in fulfilment of a vow or as his own freewill offering, not all of it has to be eaten on the day it is offered, but any that is left over may be eaten on the following day. ₁₇Any meat that still remains on the third day must be burnt. ₁₈If any of it is eaten on the third day, God will not accept the man's offering. The offering will not be counted to his credit but will be considered unclean, and whoever eats it will suffer the consequences. ₁₉If the meat comes into contact with anything ritually unclean, it must not be eaten, but must be burned.

Anyone who is ritually clean may eat the meat, ₂₀but if anyone who is not clean eats it, he shall no longer be considered one of God's people. ₂₁Also, if anyone eats the meat of this offering after he has touched anything ritually unclean, whether from a man or an animal, he shall no longer be considered one of God's people.

₂₂The LORD gave Moses the following regulations ₂₃for the people of Israel. No fat of cattle, sheep, or goats shall be eaten. ₂₄The fat of an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by a wild animal must not be eaten, but it may be used for any other purpose. ₂₅Anyone who eats the fat of an animal that may be offered as a food offering to the LORD will no longer be considered one of God's people. ₂₆No matter where the Israelites live, they must never use the blood of birds or animals for food. ₂₇Anyone who breaks this law will no longer be considered one of God's people.

₂₈The LORD gave Moses the following regulations ₂₉for the people of Israel. Whoever offers a fellowship offering must bring part of it as a special gift to the LORD, ₃₀bringing it with his own hands as a food offering. He shall bring the fat of the animal with its breast and present it as a special gift to the LORD. ₃₁The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall belong to the priests. ₃₂The right hind leg of the animal shall be given as a special contribution ₃₃to the priest who offers the blood and the fat of the fellowship offering. ₃₄The breast of the animal is a special gift, and the right hind leg is a special contribution that the LORD has taken from the people of Israel and given to the priests. This is what the people of Israel must give to the priests for all time to come. ₃₅This is the part of the food offered to the LORD that was given to Aaron and his sons on the day they were ordained as priests. ₃₆On that day the LORD commanded the people of Israel to give them this part of the offering. It is a regulation that the people of Israel must obey for all time to come.

₃₇These, then, are the regulations for the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, the sin offerings, the repayment offerings, the ordination offerings, and the fellowship offerings. ₃₈There on Mount Sinai in the desert, the LORD gave these commands to Moses on the day he told the people of Israel to make their offerings.

₁The LORD said to Moses, ₂“Take Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of my presence and bring the priestly garments, the anointing oil, the young bull for the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread. ₃Then call the whole community together there.”

₄Moses did as the LORD had commanded, and when the community had assembled, ₅he said to them, “What I am now about to do is what the LORD has commanded.”

₆Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and told them to take a ritual bath. ₇He put the shirt and the robe on Aaron and the sash round his waist. He put the ephod on him and fastened it by putting its finely woven belt round his waist. ₈He put the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in it. ₉He placed the turban on his head, and on the front of it he put the gold ornament, the sacred sign of dedication, just as the LORD had commanded him.

₁₀Then Moses took the anointing oil and put it on the Tent of the LORD's presence and everything that was in it, and in this way he dedicated it all to the LORD. ₁₁He took some of the oil and sprinkled it seven times on the altar and its equipment and on the basin and its base, in order to dedicate them to the LORD. ₁₂He ordained Aaron by pouring some of the anointing oil on his head. ₁₃Next, Moses brought the sons of Aaron forward and put shirts on them, put sashes round their waists, and tied caps on their heads, just as the LORD had commanded.

₁₄Then Moses brought the young bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ₁₅Moses killed it and took some of the blood, and with his finger put it on the projections at the corners of the altar, in order to dedicate it. He then poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. In this way he dedicated it and purified it. ₁₆Moses took all the fat on the internal organs, the best part of the liver, and the kidneys with the fat on them, and burnt it all on the altar. ₁₇He took the rest of the bull, including its skin, flesh, and intestines, and burnt it outside the camp, just as the LORD had commanded.

₁₈Next, Moses brought the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ₁₉Moses killed it and threw the blood on all four sides of the altar. _20-21He cut the ram in pieces, washed the internal organs and the hind legs with water, and burnt the head, the fat, and all the rest of the ram on the altar, just as the LORD had commanded. This burnt offering was a food offering, and the smell was pleasing to the LORD.

₂₂Then Moses brought the second ram, which was for the ordination of priests, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ₂₃Moses killed it and took some of the blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ₂₄Then he brought Aaron's sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Moses then threw the rest of the blood on all four sides of the altar. ₂₅He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat covering the internal organs, the best part of the liver, the kidneys with the fat on them, and the right hind leg. ₂₆Then he took one loaf of bread from the basket of unleavened bread dedicated to the LORD, one loaf made with oil, and one biscuit, and he put them on top of the fat and the right hind leg. ₂₇He put all this food in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and they presented it as a special gift to the LORD. ₂₈Then Moses took the food from them and burnt it on the altar, on top of the burnt offering, as an ordination offering. This was a food offering, and the smell was pleasing to the LORD. ₂₉Then Moses took the breast and presented it as a special gift to the LORD. It was Moses' part of the ordination ram. Moses did everything just as the LORD had commanded.

₃₀Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his sons and on their clothes. In this way he consecrated them and their clothes to the LORD.

₃₁Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Take the meat to the entrance of the Tent of the LORD's presence, boil it, and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings, just as the LORD commanded. ₃₂Burn up any meat or bread that is left over. ₃₃You shall not leave the entrance of the Tent for seven days, until your ordination rites are completed. ₃₄The LORD commanded us to do what we have done today, in order to take away your sin. ₃₅You must stay at the entrance of the Tent day and night for seven days, doing what the LORD has commanded. If you don't, you will die. This is what the LORD has commanded me.” ₃₆So Aaron and his sons did everything that the LORD had commanded through Moses.

₁My Christian brothers and sisters, who also have been called by God! Think of Jesus, whom God sent to be the High Priest of the faith we profess. ₂He was faithful to God, who chose him to do this work, just as Moses was faithful in his work in God's house. ₃A man who builds a house receives more honour than the house itself. In the same way Jesus is worthy of much greater honour than Moses. ₄Every house, of course, is built by someone — and God is the one who has built all things. ₅Moses was faithful in God's house as a servant, and he spoke of the things that God would say in the future. ₆But Christ is faithful as the Son in charge of God's house. We are his house if we keep up our courage and our confidence in what we hope for.

₇So then, as the Holy Spirit says:

₁₂My fellow-believers, be careful that no one among you has a heart so evil and unbelieving as to turn away from the living God. ₁₃Instead, in order that none of you be deceived by sin and become stubborn, you must help one another every day, as long as the word “Today” in the scripture applies to us. ₁₄For we are all partners with Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at the beginning.

₁₅This is what the scripture says:

₁₆Who were the people who heard God's voice and rebelled against him? All those who were led out of Egypt by Moses. ₁₇With whom was God angry for forty years? With the people who sinned, who fell down dead in the desert. ₁₈When God made his solemn promise, “They will never enter the land where I would have given them rest” — of whom was he speaking? Of those who rebelled. ₁₉We see, then, that they were not able to enter the land, because they did not believe.

₁Now, God has offered us the promise that we may receive that rest he spoke about. Let us take care, then, that none of you will be found to have failed to receive that promised rest. ₂For we have heard the Good News, just as they did. They heard the message, but it did them no good, because when they heard it, they did not accept it with faith. ₃We who believe, then, do receive that rest which God promised. It is just as he said:

₈If Joshua had given the people the rest that God had promised, God would not have spoken later about another day. ₉As it is, however, there still remains for God's people a rest like God's resting on the seventh day. ₁₀For those who receive that rest which God promised will rest from their own work, just as God rested from his. ₁₁Let us, then, do our best to receive that rest, so that no one of us will fail as they did because of their lack of faith.

₁₂The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart. ₁₃There is nothing that can be hidden from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves.

₁₄Let us, then, hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we have a great High Priest who has gone into the very presence of God — Jesus, the Son of God. ₁₅Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin. ₁₆Let us have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.